Donald E. Sublett

Monday, August 17, 2020

Donald E. Sublett, 89, of Cloverdale, passed away of congestive heart failure on Friday, Aug. 14, 2020 at Hickory Creek at Sunset.

Donald was born in Woodbury, Ky., on Feb. 18, 1931, the son of Ben E. and Mary Lucille (Gilliam) Sublett.

Don was a graduate of George Washington High School in 1948. He attended Indiana University Extension, Alexander Hamilton Institute and many continuing education schools.

After high school, Don worked on a large cattle ranch in Montana.

He proudly served his country during the Korean War with the U.S. Marines. After the war, Don began work for Pan American World Airways in Miami and New York. He changed jobs to Columbia Broadcasting System in New York and transferred to Terre Haute helping implement their computer architecture.

Don changed jobs to Indiana Bell where he worked as a Senior Systems Engineer for 26 years before retiring. While at Indiana Bell, he received several recognition of achievement awards.

He was part of Toastmasters and was Top Talker two consecutive years. Public speaking came easy to Don and he participated in encouraging Cloverdale students during career day or giving motivational speeches.

While at Indiana Bell, he and his partner won the Indiana Bell Bridge-A-Rama two consecutive years, and also won awards for high score defense high score offense.

Don realized retirement was not ready for him, so he went to full-time consulting with Mercy Hospital in Janesville, Wis., for two years, Anthem Insurance in Indianapolis for two years, then Eli Lilly in Indianapolis for five years.

He served on the Cloverdale Town Council for 18 years, and was active in the community.

Don attended the Cloverdale United Methodist Church for many years with later attendance at Greencastle Christian Church.

Don was the beloved husband of Shirley A. (Gillespie) for 56 years; children Linda, Terri, Rob Keefer (Donna); Julianne Guarino (David); and11 grandchildren.

Don enjoyed outdoor life, fishing, hunting, biking, hiking, golf, dancing and bridge.

Don was an enthusiastic racewalker and a member of Indiana Racewalkers. He participated in racewalking at the Senior Olympics in Tuscon and many other race walks.

He was preceded in death by his parents, his brother Gerald and his son Guy.

Services will be held at 1 p.m. Saturday Aug. 22 at Hopkins-Rector Funeral Home, Greencastle. Burial will follow in Cloverdale Cemetery. Visitation will be held from 11 a.m. until 1 p.m.

Memories may be shared with the family at www.Hopkins-Rector.com.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to be made to the American Heart Association.